Puppies Born With Cleft Palate Have A Fighting Chance Thanks To Chicago’s Animal Advocates

The Chicago Animal Advocates, rescued a pregnant beagle named Echo, from a high kill animal shelter in Kentucky. Rescue groups do this all the time. Mamas and puppies don’t do well in shelter environments and pulling a mom before she gives birth increases the odds of everyone’s survival.

They had no idea how soon the puppies were going to arrive, but the following day they had Echo, plus 7 newborn pups.

(Photo Credit: Chicago Animal Advocates)

Later than night, sadly, one of the puppies passed away and another soon after. The foster mom caring for the brood found out that of the 7 puppies born, 6 were born with cleft palates and two of them had already died. Four little beagle pups are left, one still struggling to keep food down, and all four are in need of cleft palate surgery.

A cleft palate is an abnormal split in the roof of the mouth, that usually fuses together during embryonic development. The result is an opening between the mouth and nasal passages.

Puppies that have cleft palates are unable to suckle and if undetected, usually wind up starving to death.

The remaining four pups are now being fed through tubes and Echo is doing her best to cope with the loss. They don’t even realize how serious their condition is because their foster mom is taking such good care of them with round the clock tube feedings to keep their bellies full.

(Photo Credits: Chicago Animal Advocates)

Follow the Chicago Animal Advocates on Facebook or Instagram for regular updates on these precious puppies. They are a foster based rescue group that would not be able to do any of the work it’s doing without support from the community.

The remaining puppies, should they survive, are going to need surgery estimated to cost upwards of $4500.00 which is a huge and unexpected expense for a struggling volunteer rescue group but it’s the only chance these pups have at living a normal life. You can show your support by sharing this story on Facebook and Twitter or visiting the Chicago Animal Advocates YouCaring page.

According to the website, “Chicago Animal Advocates is a 501c3 (pending) non-profit, no-kill, volunteer-run animal rescue. We are dedicated to rescuing animals from shelters where the animals are at high-risk of euthanasia due to overpopulation, or in danger of abuse or neglect.”